Why is WSDOT replacing the Seattle Multimodal Terminal at Colman Dock?
Colman Dock in Seattle is WSF’s largest ferry terminal and supports transportation across Puget Sound between downtown Seattle and communities in Kitsap County and the Olympic Peninsula. It serves commuters, tourists, commercial vehicles, walk-on passengers and bicyclists. In 2017, more than 10 million people traveled through Colman Dock including more than 5 million foot passengers.

Key components of Colman Dock are aging and vulnerable to seismic events. The layout of today’s facility also creates safety concerns and operational inefficiencies due to conflicts between vehicles, bicycles and pedestrian traffic.

The End Result

Key project elements include:

Replacing the existing timber trestle portion of the dock with a new concrete and steel trestle

Replacing the main terminal building

Replacing the passenger-only ferry facility on the south edge of Colman Dock with funding from King County

Constructing a new elevated walkway between the terminal building and the passenger-only ferry facility

*While avoidance and minimization of new overwater coverage was a key goal of the project, the new facility will increase the overwater footprint by approximately 5,200 square feet. Mitigation for this increase in overwater coverage will be achieved by removing overwater coverage from a neighboring pier owned by WSDOT.

Project Benefits

The project will:

Ensure that the Colman Dock facility can continue to provide safe and reliable ferry service between Seattle and communities in Kitsap County and the Olympic Peninsula

Provide stormwater treatment for all new and replaced areas of the trestle

Provide opportunities for remediation of contaminated sediments

Timeline

2012-2015 – Environmental process/preliminary design

2015-2017 – Final design and permitting

Summer 2017-2023 – Construction

August 2017 - Completion of a temporary passenger-only ferry terminal on the north side of the dock at Pier 52. The King County Water Taxi and Kitsap Transit Fast Ferry will operate out of the temporary location until fall 2018, when the new facility is complete.

Fall 2018 - Pile driving work on north side of the trestle begins. This work lasts through mid-Feb. 2019.

Summer 2019 - Completion of new passenger-only ferry terminal

Construction will continue until 2023 and the terminal will remain open throughout construction.

While the terminal and all ferry operations will be available and maintained throughout construction, customers can expect changes to how vehicles, passengers and bicycles load and unload.

Customers and terminal neighbors can also expect construction noise, vibration and odor.

The noisiest construction activity will be pile driving necessary to build the new dock. This work will be limited to daylight hours, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., August through mid-February. Some nighttime work to complete other construction activities may also be needed.

Removal of creosote-coated timber piles can also cause vibration and odors. Our contractor will use best management practices to minimize these impacts.

WSF has chosen the General Contractor/Construction Manager delivery method for the project. Hoffman-Pacific, a Joint Venture, was selected as the GC/CM in fall 2015 and has committed to maximizing opportunities for DBE firms. WSDOT has established a DBE goal of 12% of the project’s Maximum Allowable Construction Cost (MACC).